Here's what you need to know about Universities of Wisconsin's Direct Admissions program (2024)

The Universities of Wisconsin’s Direct Admissions program is now live and in the inboxes — and soon, in mailboxes — of tens of thousands of high school seniors.

Under the program, eligible Wisconsin high school students are able to sidestep the traditional college application process and instead are automatically admitted to one or more UW system schools for which they qualify. The system announced plans for the program last fall as it seeks to reverse enrollment declines over the past decade and boost its graduation rates.

Ten of the system’s 13 universities have opted into the program, with UW-Madison, UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire opting out. The decision whether to participate was left to each university.

When did the letters go out?

Direct Admission letters started going out Monday by email, notifying students who will be starting their senior year in the next few weeks and will be college freshmen in fall 2025 that they have been accepted into one or more UW system schools.

What are the requirements to get in?

The admissions standards for the Direct Admissions program and traditional admission are the same.

The UW Board of Regents outlines the basic requirements for admission in its policies, which are mirrored at most of the schools participating in Direct Admissions. Regent policy requires high school students complete four years of English/Language Arts, three years of social studies, three years of math and three years of science. Students also should have four additional units of foreign language, fine arts, computer sciences or other academic classes.

UW system schools also take grades and coursework through a student’s junior year into consideration. The UW system declined to provide more school-specific admissions criteria.

Most UW system schools list the average high school grade point average for admitted students at 3.2 to 3.8 on a 4.0 scale, but there is not a minimum GPA outlined in Regent policy.

Currently, ACT and SAT scores are optional for admission after the COVID-19 pandemic.

UW system schools can waive some requirements and consider applicants on a case-by-case basis.

All of the UW system schools participating in the Direct Admissions program already are close to being open access schools — meaning they accept all or nearly all qualified applicants — or acceptance rates are in the mid- to low-90 percent range.

Even UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse, which aren’t participating in the program, have high acceptance rates in the low- to mid-80 percent range. UW-Madison is the outlier, with a 64% acceptance rate.

How do I know if my school district is participating?

There are a few ways to know: First, if your child’s school is partnering with the UW system for Direct Admissions, parents will be notified because they’ll be asked to allow the UW system to view their child’s academic record in the high school’s software. Students whose parents do not give the UW system access will not receive a Direct Admissions letter.

It’s likely a school is participating in the Direct Admissions program if it uses Infinite Campus, PowerSchool or Skyward software.

How many letters were sent out this week?

About 50,000 students are enrolled at schools participating in the Direct Admissions program, spokesperson Mark Pitsch said. But the UW system won’t have a solid number of how many students are eligible until the physical letters of letters are sent out, Pitsch said.

How do you accept a Direct Admissions offer?

Students who receive an offer can indicate which schools they would like to attend on the UW system’s Direct Admissions website. Once students indicate which universities they’re interested in exploring further, universities will reach out to students with the next steps.

When does a student need to meet all requirements?

Direct Admissions offers are no different from traditional college acceptance offers: They are provisional and can be rescinded should a student not complete the course requirements upon graduation from high school or fail to submit a high school transcript to the college the summer before starting.

Those offers are given with the understanding that even though an incoming senior in high school won’t have yet taken four years of English/language arts, for example, that those courses will be completed by graduation.

“Decisions are based on coursework and grades after the junior year of high school,” Pitsch said. “Students need to continue to excel in their senior year coursework and finish strong to help ensure they make a smooth transition to college life at whatever UW university they choose to attend.”

How does this differ from ‘Guaranteed Admissions’?

Direct Admissions is a UW system-driven initiative that looks to get information about different UW system schools in front of students — especially students who weren’t sure they were eligible to attend or weren’t aware of all of the options available.

Guaranteed Admissions is a state law that requires school districts to compile a class rank for their high school senior class. Any student who is considered in the top 5% of a high school class and applies to UW-Madison is required to be admitted; for the rest of UW schools, they must accept any student in the top 10% of their class.

Guaranteed Admissions was part of the larger DEI deal struck between UW system President Jay Rothman and Assembly Speaker Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, last December as Rothman sought to release pay raises and building projects for the system.

The legislation partly originated out of legislators hearing constituent complaints that they thought their students were ranked highly in their high school class but were either waitlisted or denied admittance to UW-Madison.

How big an enrollment bump is UW expecting?

While UW system leadership doesn’t have specific freshman enrollment targets it’s trying to meet under the Direct Admissions program, this and many of its other programs are intended to boost enrollment and increase the graduation rates by about 10% by 2028.

UW system President Jay Rothman has said previously he hopes the Direct Admissions program gives students who might not have thought they were “college material” to reconsider whether it’s right for them.

Research on direct admissions programs elsewhere in the nation has shown that institutions sometimes see large increases in applications, slight increases in enrollment and a higher number of students who traditionally would skip college altogether, Pitsch said.

“We are hopeful that we will see the same slight increase that other states and institutions have seen,” he said.

Are campuses that made budget cuts prepared for more students?

“Yes,” Pitsch said.

“Our universities are committed to supporting all the students they enroll,” he said.

Enrollment in the UW system hit a peak of 182,000 students in the fall of 2010 and has dropped to about 162,000 as of last fall. As part of some cost-cutting plans in the past year to erase budget shortfalls, some schools such as UW-Platteville have brought their administrative staff counts back down to 2013 levels, a time when that campus had 2,000 more students on its rolls.